German Prophet, Democratic Hope?
October 5th, 2006Read an interesting column this morning in the New York Times about Henry Kissinger’s contributions to the Bush White House, an article prompted by Bob Woodward’s State of Denial, and it gives us further insight into the failures of this Administration. Now, don’t get too excited — it isn’t as if the Administration is listening to him, and, frankly, it might be better that they don’t!
On the surface, it sounds implausible: why would former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, the world’s best-known proponent of balance-of-power diplomacy, give advice to the Bush administration, whose professed strategy and ideals run contrary to his philosophy? And, conversely, why would the president and his aides consult Mr. Kissinger? After all, their National Security Strategy of 2006 dropped the idea that America should even pursue a balance of power. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared last year that the United States has abandoned 60 years of trying to “buy stability at the expense of democracy” in the Middle East. What could possibly be more un-Kissingerian? Mr. Kissinger has warned for decades against placing too much emphasis on democracy, human rights or moral values in foreign policy.
Yet Bob Woodward’s new book, “State of Denial,” describes how Vice President Dick Cheney has met with Mr. Kissinger at least once a month, and President Bush has talked to Mr. Kissinger frequently. The book portrays the 83-year-old Mr. Kissinger as the single most frequent outside adviser to Mr. Bush on foreign policy. The meetings are not some recent innovation; previous news reports have indicated Mr. Kissinger advised the administration back in Mr. Bush’s first term, too.
My first thought on this matter is, What does it matter if Kissinger is talking to them? It’s not like they’ll listen to him! but that’s snarky and a little naive (though true). The simple truth is that Kissinger was a part of the Nixon-Ford Administrations, and from there, he is close friends with Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Couple his friendship with those two men and the fact that they run the White House with far more authority than anyone other than Rove, and you can see exactly why Kissinger still has a voice with these men. Add in the fact that Kissinger doesn’t criticize the White House publicly, and he likely keeps it to himself privately (being the gadfly that he is), and you know why he’s welcome at Pennsylvania Avenue. (The Cabal of this Administration runs back to the Ford Administration, for the most part.)
The part that confused me was, originally, the question of why Kissinger would talk to the White House when their Administration is 180-degrees turned from his ideology, but that has a simple answer: he’s a gadfly, and he can’t let go of government. He loves the State Dinners and the glow of the Oval Office as he purrs in his husky German accent, Oh, Vister President, ve must zoo zis! (I don’t count myself as a fan of Kissinger or his ideas.)
Another interesting story today is this one, in Newsweek, about Barack Obama’s potential Presidential run. I’ll be brief: I don’t want him to run, I don’t think he can win if he runs, and I’m not as big a fan of his as others. Dick Durbin is my guy, as far as Illinois Senators go, but beyond that, I just — I don’t like it when Senators who are ultimately unaccomplished believe that they should be President because of their intelligence and wit. Beyond that, Obama reminds me of Jimmy Carter in that he’s an intelligent, young man with idealism everywhere, good charisma and popular appeal, who decides that the Presidency can be his and that he’s got the tools to handle it. I’m not so sure that an Obama Presidency wouldn’t go the same way as Carter’s did, and besides, he’s not been in politics long enough to handle the Presidency. It’s not necessarily his age, but his experience, that curbs my enthusiasm.